☰Menteng

The leafy garden suburb laid out by the Dutch in the 1910s, Menteng is the closest Jakarta has to a calm, walkable neighbourhood. Wide streets are lined with art deco villas, foreign embassies and the homes of generals and ex-presidents -- Sukarno lived here, and so did the young Barack Obama. The small parks (Taman Suropati, Taman Menteng) host musicians and food carts in the evening. It is a good base for an afternoon's wandering, with cafes, antique shops along Jalan Surabaya, and some of the city's better restaurants tucked into side streets.